FRA accepting public comments for Michigan passenger rail corridor improvement project

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FRA accepting public comments for Michigan passenger rail corridor improvement project

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I traveled from NW Indiana to Detroit this week and the thought of taking the Amtrak crossed my mind, although it was not feasible due to lading which I took with me.

A stop at Gary should be considered. The demographics would work and there is considerable steel mill / auto travel between Gary and Motor City.

I stopped in Kalamazoo to photograph BO Tower (still in operation) and explored the depot there. What a great facility. Not only does it service Amtrak, but also the Kzoo metropolitan bus service. That facility should be a model for medium sized city transportation coordination.

Ed

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There’s the old shell of the Gary Union Depot; it would be nice for that facility to be rehabbed and used again as the depot

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Don’t know when Amtrak last stopped in Gary. I rode it from Detroit to see relatives there about 40 years ago & had to ride to Chicago & ride South Shore back to Gary. Must not be enough potential riders to support stopping there. But then, how many riders get on or off at Niles?

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Don’t know when Amtrak last stopped in Gary. I rode it from Detroit to see relatives there about 40 years ago & had to ride to Chicago & ride South Shore back to Gary. Must not be enough potential riders to support stopping there. But then, how many riders get on or off at Niles?

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Now that CSX’s route between Grand Rapids & Detroit is essentially dormant (loss of auto parts traffic, CP move to NS), with it’s superior ballast/rail structure intact, why doesn’t the state of Michigan pull together a plan that incorporates a “triangle” approach between Detroit and the Porter/Niles area??(!!). The CSX route from Grand Rapids, where the Pere Marquette presently terminates, could be extended Southeast down the CSX sub to Detroit, picking up Lansing as a vital stop in the network Michigan appears to be building. Such would also allow an “X” connection with Amtrak’s Blue Watre going to Port Huron in Lansing or East Lansing (Trowbridge crossing).